u/Adventurous_Lie_5246

How does one go about making friends with people who are passionate about writing?
I just started learning and practicing how to write and I want to learn how to write really well. (So far watching bunch of online lessons and reading books.) I understand that people pay professional editors who help them transform their stories better, but what about when you're still just a beginner? I've got a long way to go before I'll be decent so the idea of sharing amateurish writing publicly doesn't sound tempting. (Especially since it invites bunch of people who are really bad at giving useful feedback, or are there just to mock you.)

I love humor so including that successfully is so important to me. I'd hate to make something absolutely cringey because I didn't get anyone else's perspective.

I clearly haven't read many books (yet) especially written by men, so I'm really curious about how common it is for men to describe a male character in their own writing as a good looking guy? I know men in superhero comics are drawn with huge muscles and strong jaws etc. But does this happen in books? Is it rare? And is the writing very different from how women describe handsome men? (Generally speaking since of course every individual writes their own way).

Any books from recent years (2020 and up) that have humor in them? I'd love a good fantasy that is serious but also has comedy. Heck, if there's anything really that made you laugh more than once, I'm interested. Tbh, I'll take older book recommendations too. Also, do romance fantasies ever come with comedy?

I just want to fill my heart with some fantasy elements and laughter.

Edit: I did not expect this many responds, thank you everyone for the recommendations!

I'm practicing writing (Fantasy if that matters) and apparently giving your protagonist flaws is important. So I started thinking that fear is definitely a flaw I know better than other flaws.

So it got me thinking if fear is even a good idea for a fantasy hero/heroine? Such as freezing when one needs to literally fight.

I'd find it interesting to follow such protagonist who struggles when facing danger (maybe there are even more things that cause them fear and not just fear of getting hurt or worse) and see the character develop through the journey and see them gradually become stronger and fearless (or maybe not totally fearless, but rather much, much less afraid) Is this a terrible flaw for readers to enjoy? I get it that we all like different things and there might be people who also like this but is fear a dislikable flaw for the general public?

Also (haven't yet researched fear that much but) if a person is afraid of lots of things, does it mean they are a coward about everything? Or is it possible to have courage in some other areas?

When do you just write however you want? There's so much information about rules how to write a good story, characters, this and that. Don't do this, do this, this is wrong, this is right. And not only that but people have conflicting teaching. I think long time ago I heard someone say that there are rules how to write well but nobody can agree on what those are.

I'm so overwhelmed. There are things I just want to write the way I want to, and include stuff because I personally like it and want to see it.

But how do you others do it? When do you follow whatever writing rules you've heard and when do you break the rules and do whatever?